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Here On Business
It's twilight when the pair reach the top of the designated building. Nothing really fancy beyond the hexagonal shape of the rooftop, and the jagged parapet. It's certainly not the tallest structure in Tarn, so there are skyscrapers surrounding it. Fray can be found crouched in the shadows of the poorly lit area, only his blue visor visible. He's got his pistol drawn, ready to fire on the gravlift entrance that's situated square in the middle. Chromia arrives alone, or at least, she arrives first. It's without any effort to mask or hide herself. She has no weapons drawn and her arms are at her side. The gravlift will settle fully before Chromia steps off. She doesn't make any effort to examine the surface of the rooftop or even to scan the surrounding skyscrappers. She does look up as though she's enjoying the night sky. Maybe she came here for the view? Randomly wandered this way as a visitor to Tarn? "You here yet?" Chromia whisper-says that, though she doesn't address it to who. Did Fray know she was coming with Defcon? Apparently though she has arrived without the bot that going to bring her. Defcon's standing in an elevator, arms behind his back. He looks a bit impatient. It's not a fast elevator. Plus, there's awful muzak playing in the background. He watches the little numbers lighting up as the elevator gradually makes it way towards the roof. The lift stops halfway up. Defcon tries to look inconspicuous and highly interested in some point on the ceiling. A small mech starts to walk into the lift and suddenly stops, staring at the imposing bounty hunter. Defcon glances at him, looking equally surprised. He gestures to the empty space beside him as if to say, Help Yourself. The mech carefully stands next to Defcon, clearly aware of the autobrand. He looks very uncomfortable. Defcon just looks a bit awkward. The lift continues on its way. "So uhh.." the mech starts to say. "You hear on business?" Defcon scratches the back of his head. "No, I uhh.. Got a friend in this building. His name's.. Slipshod." "Oh yea? I know him. Good mech. How's his arm doing?" Defcon looks blankly, not expecting that answer. "..Ok?" "Good, good. Let him know I said hi." The doors open and the mech gets off. The lift continues on its way. A moment after Chromia arrives and the grav-lift descends, a second one arrives. Apparently the building has two. Defcon steps off and notices Chromia immediately. He inclines his head to her. A muted hum emanates from Fray's charging pistol, his grip tightening. Two figures. They're familiar. He relaxes somewhat when he spots the insignias. It's Chromia and Defcon, or at least what looks like Chromia and Defcon - could be holograms. He stands slowly, weapon still raised, eying the alcoves in the surrounding buildings. "Prove to me who you are," he says quietly from the shadows. "I could throw another chair at you." Defcon replies matter-of-factly. But he reaches behind his back, pulling out a terran-looking wallet and flashing a badge at Fray. Galactic Bounty Hunter, First Class. There's a photo of Defcon on it, smoking an ener-cig and holding a pair of huge handguns to either side of his head. It's an overly dramatic pose for what normally would be a simple picture, but that alone probably says more about the owner of the card then the actual official nature of it. Chromia didn't have nearly as entertaining of a gravlift ride! Maybe she lacks the comforting face that Defcon has, one that encourages strangers to approach her. Or maybe she gives off the 'slag off' vibe strong enough to be left alone. Defcon's arrival gets her attention as she turns to greet him. She holds up her arms to indicate that she's still whole. No ambush as of yet, at least. She arrived before him on purpose. "Of all the rooftops we could meet on, you had to pick this one," she muses. She definitely doesn't like all of those surrounding vantage points. Fray's 'introduction' has Chromia raising a brow. Her arms are already up so she displays raised empty hands. "You gave me something. A schematic," she offers. "You told me to talk to him," she nods her head towards Defcon. Fray looks at the ID and fails to stifle a smirk. "No... No chair, I think that'll do." Chromia's answer seals the deal. Convinced, Fray drops his guard and cautiously approaches. "Sorry, it's been rather hectic as of late. Sounds like your little investigation rooted out Trefoil. I always knew something was up with her. The chief was furious." He shakes his head. "We /swore/ to serve and protect. It disgusts me that someone would break that oath for shanix." He vents a sigh and shifts uneasily. "Don't worry... the TPD doesn't patrol here too often, a-and it was all I could think to write at the time, it was kinda' sudden!" Pause. "I wanted to tell you what I knew. But first... what do /you/ know?" Defcon flips the badge back into subspace behind him. He takes out a ener-smoke, taking his time to light it and take a drag. Apparently he's in no hurry. Apparently he also hasn't been reading the reports because he's actually buying himself some time to think of something. "We know there's corruption." He says, cig in his mouth. "We're following a few leads, trying to track weapons to people supplying them." Defcon glances off to one side, towards what looks like a pile of debris on the roof. There's a sensor hidden in there, quietly checking the area around them for energy signatures. The pile looks undisturbed, so Defcon assumes the time he spent the other day planting it there was well spent. He takes another drag. "I'd offer you sanction. To give you a new home, a new place to live, safe. But you strike me as someone who stays in Tarn because 'Home' is more than just where you hang your head at night. Home is a place worth fighting for. I can't guarantee your safety as long as you stay here, but I can guarantee that we'll use any information you give us to try and make Tarn a better place." That's easy for Chromia. "I know that you need help." It's that simple for her. "Prowl didn't give me a lot of detail but I know Tarn, have known Tarn, over the years. It's never been the best of what Cybertron has to offer. We want to help it to be better." Chromia stops herself there though as she knows she's sounding more like a memo than a mech in that. "I was sent to you and you sent me to Defcon, who brought me along." Her hands have come down of course and she moves them to her hips, closer to the compartment her pistol is in. Now she looks up and around, scanning the skyscrapers as they talk. "This war, it's done things to us, torn us all in ways we might never have considered before. You shouldn't blame yourself for not seeing anything Fray, rather you should be proud that you retain that expectation, that hope, that everyone is as committed as you are. It's nice to know it still exists," she smiles. Reminders like this are nice for her to find. Besides, it's a nice thing to focus on too so she doesn't scowl too much at Defcon as he lights up beside her. Chromia tries not to frown too much at the enercig. She is glad though to have Defcon confirm her own feelings about Fray. "I believe that you want to make Tarn better, safer. I know that we're here to help." Fray stows his pistol and glances away sheepishly. It's come to this, the military branch offering to protect him, and while they mean well, his pride takes a hit. Defcon gives him a way out at least. "Yeah," he mutters bitterly. "I couldn't just up and leave this place, you're right about that." He listens to Chromia and nods slowly, brightening back up. "You two are all right, y'know? The other officers, they ain't 'con sympathizers of course, but they got this weird idea like the war mechs are these flashy hotshots that get all the glory while we're stuck here in a city that hates us. It's not like that." He smiles faintly. "I'm in the situation I'm in because myself and a few other officers witnessed one of Sterling's exchanges with Flaxjax's group. And... he found us. He wanted to kill us but Flaxjax said it would stir up too much suspicion, so he let us live. If you call this living. We have to catch him in the act. I know where he meets up with rebels, and I can tell you, but I want to come with you." Defcon listens to both Chromia and Fray. Slag, he's glad he brought her. Fray wants to be involved in catching Sterling. Defcon muses for a moment. He can respect that. Prowl and the others might not approve, but the bounty hunter knows that Fray /has/ to see this through. He has to be involved, not to just pass the reigns over to a bunch of military. That's exactly how Defcon would want to do it if he was in Fray's place. But then the hidden sensor beacon picks up a signature. "I wouldn't want to bust Sterling without you being there to see the look on his face, kid." He says a bit hurriedly. "It's a deal. But for now, you may want to get some cover. Something's coming. Could be nothing," he says, trying to look in the direction of the signature but not seeing the source just yet. "But I'm not taking chances." Clearly Defcon has no problem risking his own head, and Chromia has seen more than enough of her share to know when she's risking her life, but the bounty hunter is less inclined to risk Fray's out in the open, before the move for Sterling. "I know what it means, to stay." Chromia stops her scanning of the surroundings to focus on Fray. 'Alright'? She's not sure about that. It's hard to not feel like there's more that should be done. Like Defcon, she remained active on Cybertron for millions of years. She knows that not everyone in this war meant to be involved in it and really it's those bots that deserve the most credit. "To be left behind," she adds. "The need to hold onto what you have, for you and those around you. To dig in and hold out, even when the odds are, well... vast. It's not logical," which is why she's certain her new 'boss' would never understand. Why is she working for Prowl when she's not sure he can ever see optic-to-optic with her? "When you have everything taken away, I think it's good to not settle for what's been left, but to fight for more. It's what I did," she offers. She can certainly relate to Fray, in her own head at least. Chromia can also identify with the need to follow something through to the end. For that, however, Fray will need to remain function. "Even if you won't accept it, your survival is more important than ours right now," s Chromia states as she steps forward to Fray. She knows Defcon will agree with her here. "If you want to end this, what you know, what you have seen, you need to make it off this rooftop. Go back to your hiding spot, the one you were in when we arrived. No matter what happens," she glances to Defcon as she receives his 'whisper', "Stay behind me. Are we clear on that?" Chromia moves on instinct, to put herself between Fray and whatever is coming. "Only show yourself if absolutely necessary and even then, stay behind me. No matter what." Right about now she wishes she had Fray's new shield to present to him but she doesn't, so she'll settle with being that cover herself. Combat: Chromia compares her Agility to 75: Success! Combat: Chromia compares her Agility to 75: Success! Combat: Chromia compares her Agility to 75: Success! Fray grins broadly, and he's in the middle of drawing a holographic map before him to point out the locations, but they urge him to find cover. He needn't be told twice, and moves for the shadowed parapets. "We're clear on that," he assures Chromia. Defcon can spot a very distant glimmer of silver between the struts of an unfinished building, just before a thunderous -KRAKOW- from a sniper rifle. A bullet grazes Chromia's shoulder armor and catches Fray's neck. Energon spatters the ground as he fails to vocalize and struggles pinch the severed line, brought to his knees. The sniper gears up the fire again, obviously not satisfied with the shot. He does not seem too worried about the other two atop the building. "Defcon, go!" At least that's Chromia's suggestion because she has decided to stay. Her shoulder might sting, but that's forgotten as she turns to check where that shot we-... "No! No no no," she growls as she moves to Fray to mean to check him. He's not down so he's still functional. She means to get a hand on that wound, because she knows that energon in is better than energon out. Chromia means to, very literally, shield Fray with her own body, to block as much of him as she can with herself. If there are any more shots, she wants to take them fully and spare Fray any more damage. Since his wound is in the neck, she won't ask him to speak. "Use your hand, give me one finger if you're good to move, two if we need to stay." She spares a quick look to Defcon. She means to stay with him. "You engaging? If not, make it leave." Whoever is attacking. Internally, she's signalling to rescue services that she needs a medbot here ASAP. In the heat of battle, when all hell breaks loose, there are only a few things you can rely on. One, is yourself. Maybe someone will save you. Maybe not. But when you place your faith in yourself, you know that your fate are in your own hands, your own skills, your own weapons. When you bring someone with you, against better judgment, you had better be sure that you bring someone who knows how to handle themselves. And when you're trying to keep a mech alive, bringing one of the most experienced bodyguards to ever walk Cybertron is a good thing to bring along. Defcon transforms into his Starfighter. Hunter of Decepticons. Slayer of planet scourges. Hatches open along the craft's hull as it hovers in the air directly above Chromia and Frey, using himself to block the line of fire. At the same time, weapons extend from his many hatches and panels, revealing rows of plasma blasters, particle rifles, and pulse lasers. He unleashes a dozen blue and violet beams of explosive energy back towards the sniper, not aiming directly at him but trying to force him to take cover and halt any return shots. Dazzling indigo and azure light shower the other building top. "Hope Prowl doesn't mind the repair bills.." He mutters to himself. "Get him inside!" He shouts down to Chromia. His underbelly opens up, revealing a lift where he normally holds prisoners and bounties. "We're not losing you today, kid." Defcon transforms into his Cybertronian Starfighter mode. Combat: Cybertronian Starfighter strikes Sterling with his Constant Suppression Fire attack! -2 Fray winces and spares a bloody hand to signal "one", he's good to move, and he tries to stand with Chromia's help, glaring out across the rooftop. Sterling pays a little more attention now that Defcon becomes more of a threat. He aims to fire off another shot at Fray, but Chromia has effectively blocked him, so he shifts his focus to the two meddling Autobots. Though, technically, they're all Autobots! But Defcon gets him first, and he's not expecting such a barrage. Plasma and pulse beams light up the alcove he's perched on, ripping up his armor as well. The structure crumbles slightly but he's not moving just yet, hellbent on taking that blue riot van out. And whoever stands in his way. Combat: Sterling sets its defense level to Fearless. Combat: Sterling strikes Chromia with its Sniper Rifle (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Sterling strikes Cybertronian Starfighter with its Sniper Rifle (Full-Auto) Area attack! Chromia considers. They need to get Fray off this rooftop. She looks to the gravlift. slow, unsecure and anything could be waiting on the street. She looks to Defcon. He could get shot out of the sky, with Fray onboard. She's tempted to grab Fray and jump off the building to make a run for it, but that kind of thing would only result in more... "Hrnkt," she grunts as Sterling's shot hits her. She expected it to come, she'll endure. It helps to serve as a reminder that they can't remain here in the open. "Stay with me," Chromia orders Fray. She means to keep one hand at his wound and use the other to get around him. It's not going to be very dignified, but she means to heft him up as she moves towards Defcon, still with herself first to shield the riotbot under her arm. "If you can't take it, we have to flee," she yells back at Defcon as she's about to board. She needs to know what he plans to do because it will mean if she gets on as well or not. If Defcon can't handle this attacker she'll have to stay and try to provide cover for him to make the escape. Right now, Fray is more important than she is. When all hell breaks loose, it helps to stay focused on what is more vital - yourself or the intended result. Fray's knowledge will do more good for Tarn than Chromia. A return shot from Sterling strikes Defcon's hull, causing him to wobble slightly in the air but his thrusters keep him hovering in place. "Pff." He projects outward with amplified speakers. "You call that a shot? That barely scratched my paint job." Defcon doesn't fire again. His weapons aren't meant to connect with supreme pinpoint precision. He's designed to overwhelm a target with superior firepower, which is not the kind of attack you want to unleash in a cityscape. "I can't take him out without risking damage to the surrounding buildings or people. Besides, Frey is priority. Get on board. The three of us are outta here." Few things are as fast as Defcon's Starfighter. Even Sky Lynx and Blast Off can't completely match his lightspeed drive. Instead of firing back, he relies on a gambit. Assuming that Sterling is firing a sniper rifle, using a scope. A hatch on top of the starfighter flips open, emitting a blinding flash of light. If he can't obliterate the assassin then maybe he can slow him down a bit while Chromia gets Frey and herself safe. Combat: Cybertronian Starfighter strikes Sterling with his High Beams attack! -4 "Stay functional," Chromia says to Fray as she places him inside Defcon. Her voice is stern. She means it, mister! But she also means to hop out before Defcon can seal up with her inside as she draws her pistol. She might not be able to hit their attacker from such range, but maybe she can divert, or shot if pursuit is given. Anything to help throw off the attacker to help Defcon and Fray to get away. "Go go go,' she orders as she takes aim from behind Defcon and fires. Combat: Chromia strikes Sterling with her Heavy Blaster Pistol attack! Fray is certainly not complaining about the indignity of it all, he's just trying to remain conscious as Chromia valiantly totes him up the ramp. Energon will start to coat her armor. "Yes ma'am," Fray mouths weakly when she sets him inside. Sterling scowls as they drag away his target, and charges his rifle for another shot, only to have Defcon blind him through the scope. "Clever sunnuvaglitch," he growls, and tries to clear his vision as the trio makes their escape. Defcon may care about the safety of the city, but Sterling has clearly given up on that particular virtue, and springs off the building to transform mid-air. The giant jet is swifter than it appears, and takes off after Defcon, weapons hot. Chromia manages to catch his nosecone, armor partially peeling back to cloud his sensors with smoke. > he broadbands to both of them. Sterling transforms into a gigantic B-36 Peacemaker! Combat: B-36 Peacemaker strikes Cybertronian Starfighter with his Laser attack! Defcon audibly groans as Chromia stays behind. Her heroics are valiant, but unnecessary. But if she'd rather get away on foot, or through her own altmode, then who he is to tell her what to do? She's already proven she can handle herself under fire. Defcon closes his bay doors, tucking Frey safely away. "Hello and welcome aboard Defcon Airways." The voice projects only inside Defcon's Starfighter. "Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle at all times and refrain from discharging any weapons while staying with us! Now we'll be hitting sublight momentarily so you may feel some of your molecules stretching into pure energy as we near the point where matter reaches infinity, but that's perfectly normal. You get used to it. Eventually. I'd tell you to hold onto something, but there won't be anything to hold onto in a moment." The starfighter lines itself up, facing the assassin's rooftop, when suddenly the other mech transforms into a jet. Well then. That's just cute. "Get yourself to safety, Chromia." He tightbands down to her. With that, Defcon's thrusters flash with a brilliant blaze. The ship accelerates into a sublight blur, a beam of blue velocity-energy stretching forward past the rooftop, fading into infinity as the ship accelerates beyond rational thought and reason. And it's gone. Combat: Cybertronian Starfighter begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Chromia has had to do something very difficult here and that is to place her charge in someone else's care. Her function, her training, tells her that she should stay with who she is looking after no matter what. Yet, Fray's best hope is with someone far faster than she is. She is going to have to trust Defcon, perhaps, just like he has trusted her. 'Get Fray to Prowl,' she radios to Defcon. 'Things have just escalated.' She heard what Sterling said and right now she can only think of one way to ensure Defcon won't be chased *and* to help draw attention here. Prowl is going to be so mad at her. Defcon is gone, just like that, but Chromia knows she needs to buy him time still, to get Fray to safety, to investigate. So she needs to tie Sterling up and maybe monkeywrench as much of Tarn's police force as she can. She takes aim and fires again - this time not *at* Sterling but near enough to him, to make sure she maintains his attention. "You're going to have to prove it," she calls out to him as... she lowers her weapon. "I surrender. Arrest me if you will." "No... NO!" Sterling openly yells as the starfighter completely vanishes. Chromia easily gets his attention, and his massive form angles back towards the rooftop she's on. It's loud clacks and a tremendous -thud- when he transforms and lands before her, leering. "Arrest you? /Arrest/ you!?" he snaps, advancing on her with his mean-looking baton drawn. "I think things would run a bit more smoothly for me if I killed you instead, hm?" The distant sirens from the medical crews Chromia had summoned reach him, and he glances over the side of the building. This isn't good. Mind racing, he stows his weapon and takes a tentative step backwards. "I won't forget your face," he hisses, and turns to leap off the roof, back into jetmode. Combat: B-36 Peacemaker begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Starfighter